I read the comments posted on one of the articles on this topic at Yahoo Japan Sports. The comment section can be offensive and I don't usually bother to review it.

But I was actually surprised to see many that encourage her challenging spirit and respect and admire her guts and skills. One of them said that a clean closure may be something cool and beautiful, but being honest to one's motivation and challenging one's limit is beautiful in another way.

One of them said that she has so many fans that, if each of them offer like $10, she could get enough. That was kind of cute. Others were saying that they'd love to help, but their companies were struggling. Many seem to feel that it is a shame that the country does not offer much help to those who are really motivated and have the talent.

Of course, there were many that were negative. But the majority of the negative comments were not unreasonable bashing, but more like constructive suggestions.

I've realized that many ppl care about her.

She's perhaps passed her prime time, but being that competitive at her age is admirable. We see many athletes in their 30s and 40s nowadays and Fumie is opening the door. Even if not making the Worlds, I wouldn't see her as a failure. She really performed from the heart for the audience without giving up at the Nationals despite having zero chance to make the team after bad mistakes. That was an act of class.

Yukari didn't make the 2009 Worlds or 2009 4cc. But was she a failure in that season? Many ppl remember her Giselle as a masterpiece.

It would be great if Fumie could show us some good programs and decently land those jumps. Then the results may or may not follow.

You're saying as if her parents were senile and she scammed them their life savings for her silly skating. If her parents were willing to mortgage their house or doing whatever to keep her skating, then that's their decision. There are plenty of parents here in the US paying 200k for an BA in English at some feel good liberal arts college. How's that any different than Fumie's parents paying for her skating. Do you tell college students to grow up, quit school, and pay your own bill, deadbeats?

Such a bad analogy, dude.

It's kinda like the law of diminishing returns. Nadine's point is that Fumie got to go to 2 Olympiads. She's no longer at the top of her game, there are better contenders out there, she's not getting better, she's getting older, and she's using up other people's resources. What more does Fumie need to get out of her competitive skating career? What could she realistically get? What could she offer all her supporters in return?

Even if her parents funded Fumie's career because they love her and wanted to support what she wanted to do, one could argue it's not the most graceful or wisest way to live.

Now some parents may pay for 200k US for a BA in English at an institution. Typically, these are kids who are about a decade younger than Fumie and who haven't already spent 8+ years working at getting a BA already. An education also, is a basic thing--if you're going to get one, one can argue that you might as well get a good experience and degree out of it. In addition, it may open up other career opportunities that the student wouldn't get if they just quit school (i.e. they can get better, they can fly higher in life.) Furthermore, educations aren't strictly competitive in the sense that you don't have to fight to be #1 or #2 or #3 in the world to gain the most out of it, and to give a lot from it.

I'm not saying Fumie should quit, but she should realize it would be better to. Frankly, I thought she was way underscored back in 2006 Torino and may arguably have deserved the bronze, but she's never been my favourite skater and I don't feel she's on the upswing.

Fumie was from the Kwan era. She was a lovely skater in her top days, but it was pretty clear to me that Fumie reached her peak in 2006, and it's been all downhill since then. I remember Fumie's great years and to me, it's sad to watch her skate today.

Michelle Kwan considered a comeback after recovering from major hip surgery, but after a year of training, she realized she would never again be as good as she felt she needed to be, and she wisely decided to continue her education rather than return to competition.

Maybe the best thing that can happen is that Fumie doesn't find a sponsor, and instead starts to focus on other areas for the future. Perhaps she should consider broadcasting.

I think that Fumie has made that decision after assessing all the pros and cons.

Re: sponsorship, it's more about publicity and financial returns, rather than actual competitive results that matter most. Many Olympic medalists in other sports are far less famous than Fumie. This article made one of the top news of Yahoo Japan of the day (not just the sports section).

There is ageism against female skaters who continue after early 20s. But Japan is such an aging society in which the median age of females is 46 yrs old. Female athletes who continue in their 30s and 40s are usually respected. So Fumie can be marketable if framed wisely.

I think that Fumie has made that decision after assessing all the pros and cons.

Re: sponsorship, it's more about publicity and financial returns, rather than actual competitive results that matter most. Many Olympic medalists in other sports are far less famous than Fumie. This article made one of the top news of Yahoo Japan of the day (not just the sports section).

There is ageism against female skaters who continue after early 20s. But Japan is such an aging society in which the median age of females is 46 yrs old. Female athletes who continue in their 30s and 40s are usually respected. So Fumie can be marketable if framed wisely.

I really like this attitude. Now, I don't think it's wise that Fumie has used up her parents' savings, but I think that her desire to keep skating competitively is great, as long as she can be happy with not being on top. I'd be pleased if they could market her in the way you suggest - she might be very relatable for older women.

Me personally, I wouldn't want to skate far past my prime. But if Fumie is willing to keep going, good for her.

Do you know what law of diminished returns even mean? What do you even mean in the last paragraph? It's positively incoherent and serves rather well as the only good reason why people would get a BA in English.

I had no problem understanding prettykey's post. Also I'm not sure if you meant to mock prettykey's English or not, but I thought GS was very open to international members and don't nitpick other people's English in discussions.

Also --pAre you sure you know what the law of diminishing marginal returns mean?